Sunday Gravy: Cheshire’s Nick Carparelli would be strong choice as new UConn AD

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A 10-part miniseries on the O.J. Simpson trial airs this week on FX. Really excited to see how it turns out, so please. No spoilers.

• As a rising prodigy in college sports, Warde Manuel was an atypical case. He was a Michigan football alum with impressive qualifications, and from the time he was hired it was understood UConn’s “rock star” would eventually be a leading candidate for one of the three most desired destinations in college athletic administration.

Still, it’s clear that UConn, teetering on the picket fence of relevancy, can’t afford to become a stepping stone to bigger and better things in a vastly changed landscape. UConn deserves to be in a Power Five conference. The next athletic director must be someone committed to seeing the school through the most crucial phase of its existence.

• One of the names being widely discussed as a potential replacement for Manuel at UConn is Cheshire’s Nick Carparelli. And with good reason. Whether he makes school president Susan Herbst’s short list of candidates remains to be seen, but he deserves consideration.

Carparelli is widely respected in the college sports world for his vision and ability to get things done. Now the senior director of college sports at Under Armour, he recognized the value and potential of Yale’s global brand recognition, powerful alumni network and resurgent athletic program. He brokered Yale’s groundbreaking 10-year, $16 million contract, believed to be the first exclusive apparel contract in Ivy League history.

As head of football for the Big East and American Athletic Conference, he guided the leagues through two major conference realignments and initiated creation of the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

Here’s one more Carparelli story worth telling. Yale and Army worked for years to get through red tape that would allow the schools to play in 2014, a game to celebrate the Yale Bowl’s centennial anniversary. Army, as a member of the FBS, needed a special waiver to play a non-scholarship, FCS program.

There was resistance from the NCAA and an open discussion at a national football committee meeting made it clear the situation was bleak. Carparelli, representing the Big East, then stood up and spoke at length about the ancient rivalry and why the game would be good for college football. His argument was compelling enough that the committee voted to grant Army its waiver.

UConn, stuck outside the Power Five’s castle walls, could certainly use an athletic director with those qualities.

• Cam Newton is great, but Michael Vick is still the best pure athlete to ever play quarterback in the NFL.

• Is it just me or does it always feel like the Australian Open is being played in some other dimension? Considering the 16-hour time difference, it sort of is taking place in the future.

• New Haven featherweight Tramaine Williams signed with Roc Nation Sports, a division of Jay-Z’s management company, and will box next Saturday on a card in Puerto Rico. Williams, 23, is 9-0 as a professional but fought only once in the past 30 months after to a year-long prison term for weapons and narcotics possession.

• Looks like everyone jumped the gun, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said this week. Reports had a universal DH coming as soon as 2017. Not yet. Pitchers will continue bat in the National League for a while.

Still, here’s an interesting idea sent in by Greg from Ansonia.

“What if rule became: DH remains as long as starting pitcher stays in game. Once starter is removed, you lose DH and pitcher must bat or use a pinch hitter. It would pressure managers/starters to pitch deeper into games in order to retain DH, thus reversing the annoying trend of starters not finishing what they start. It would probably quicken games by reducing the plethora of pitching changes each game with fewer changes.”

It’s an interesting wrinkle that keeps the spirit of old-time baseball strategy. But, baseball being business, we think the National League will inevitably conform to the American League rules. The end result is more money for owners (fans love offense), players (a full-time DH commands higher salary than a part-time utility man) and removes those high-priced investments that are starting pitchers from harm’s way.

• Did you see Quinnipiac hockey scored six third-period goals to pull out a 7-5 victory at Dartmouth on Friday night? The good news? This is an immensely talented club that is remarkably resilient. But for a team that’s lost only one of its 26 games and is ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Bobcats have too often found themselves trailing by two goals in the final period. That’ll need fixing with the postseason looming.

• Time waits for no man. But there’s still enough left in Tom Brady’s tank for at least one more Super Bowl run.

• Not quite sure who to pull for in next week’s big game. Right now it’s looking like the Panthers, if only because I can’t support anyone who can look into a television camera and, with a straight face, regurgitate the line “better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John’s.” With that kind of insincerity, maybe Peyton Manning is gearing up for a career in politics.

• We lost another Sunday Gravy favorite this week. Abe Vigoda, the actor who played Salvatore Tessio lived an additional 45 years after his character betrayed Michael Corleone in The Godfather. And we’ll always remember the exchange when Tessio realizes the jig is up.

“Tom, can you get me off the hook? For old time’s sake.”

“Can’t do it, Sally.”

Farewell, Mr. Vigoda.

Chip Malafronte, the Register sports columnist, can be reached at cmalafronte@nhregister.com. Follow Chip on Twitter @ChipMalafronte,